A Brother's Love
by ab-angel
Summary: Zack pushes Cody overboard, forcing something extreme to happen to Cody. Due to this, the sensitive and compassionate side of Zack finally completely reveals itself.
1. Twins No More

**A Brother's Love **by ab-angel

**Disclaimer: **Not at any point will I ever own the show "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" or the characters. Although, I do have hopes of actually being on the show and meeting Dylan and Cole Sprouse. That'd be really awesome.

**Author's Note: **First story that's not anime. I don't like anime much anymore so I turned to something else. This is by far my favorite Disney show. Zack's my favorite character because he reminds me most of myself. I think it's kind of weird how his personality is almost exactly like mine. This fic is a tribute to Dylan's character, Zack Martin.

"()" thoughts

AB-angel: My first non-anime fic, and it stars two of my favorite actors!

Dylan: So who are you anyway?

AB-angel: Don't worry, I'll make myself known to the US.

Cole: How?

AB-angel: AMERICAN IDOL!

Dylan: Good luck with that.

AB-angel: You'll see. ALL OF YOU! Including the readers! Sixth season here I come!

Cole: We'll root for you, if you're good.

AB-angel: Thank you.

Dylan: So are you going to start on your story or not?

AB-angel: I'm getting to it, I just want to stall a little more. Where's Ashley?

Ashley: Right here. You need something?

AB-angel: looks directly into her eyesI always wanted to tell you……. Brenda, Cole, and Dylan sing better than you.

Ashley: Gasp! Hmph! Walks off

Cole: Why'd you say that?

AB-angel: Because it's true. Okay I stalled enough. ON WITH THE FIC!

Chapter 1 – Twins No More 

Zack was in their room, annoyed by recent deceptions that Cody had played on him.

"(I know I'm bad, but Cody has a secret weapon, his sensitivity. He always tries to make me feel bad and then uses it against me. I gotta get him so good that even being a cry baby won't work.)" Zack scrounged through his stuff that Cody knew better not to touch to find something. Zack had kept this portion of his belongs always neat so Cody wouldn't think to touch it and fix it up.

Zack came across a small box, a little larger than a videocassette case. "Hmm, this is weird. How come I've never seen this?" He noticed that it was locked. When he looked closely at the lock he remembered how to open it. It was a key lock, but Zack had long lost the key, but he developed a way of opening it. It required a series of light hits on certain areas.

When the box came open, it revealed a tape with no label. "I remember this box, but what's this tape?" Since Cody and Carey were downstairs, Zack decided it was safe to watch whatever was on this tape. After rewinding it and playing it, short videos of Cody began playing. Zack remembered instantly what it was.

"Oh my god! This is the tape I made of Cody's most embarrassing videos! (I remember making this before we moved. I guess I forgot about it when we checked into the Tipton.)" Every single video was embarrassing, the next more embarrassing than the last, exactly how Zack intended it to be. He knew exactly what to do with it. He acted casual for the rest of the day so Cody or Carey for that matter wouldn't suspect anything.

The next day, at school, both Zack and Cody were in class. Zack had a stupid grin on his face. He knew what was going to happen as soon as the morning announces broadcasted, Cody would be the laughing stock of the whole school. As the announcements were about to finish, they left time for one more.

"Before we conclude today's morning announcements, we decided to let one of our very own, Zack Martin, play his video that he insisted so much on seeing." Cody then looked at Zack very strangely.

"What are they talking about?" Cody glared at him.

"Oh you'll see." Zack sat back and watched the TV.

"Role it." The girl said. Suddenly, every embarrassing video that Carey and Zack had recorded started playing. From naked baby Cody to peeing in pants, anything embarrassing that could happen to any normal kid was being displayed, happening to Cody. There was even a slide show in the end to top it off. Every single kid was laughing, even some members of the staff were caught cracking up.

Cody was shocked and speechless. The sight of everyone laughing at him, plus the teacher, forced him to run out of the classroom. In the hallway, one of the students spotted Cody and announced that he was in the halls. Much of the students came out, along with the teachers who wanted to see and the ones who actually were trying to make their students get back into class. All of them were making faces to Cody, laughing, teasing, some were even saying things that Cody's never even said in his entire life.

This was all too much for him. He looked at Zack straight in the eyes, with tears coming out, and ran outside of the campus. Zack had just realized the amount of damage he had just done and immediately began making his way through the crowd of laughing kids to chase after Cody. When he finally reached the outside of the campus, Cody was nowhere in sight. With no thought whatsoever of where Cody might go, he went to the only place where he knew Cody would eventually return, the Tipton.

Back at the Tipton, Zack went straight to the suite, ignoring everyone who greeted him. Inside the suite, Carey wondered why Zack was home already.

"Zack, what happened? Why aren't you still in school?"

"I don't feel good." It was true, after seeing Cody's face, he felt horrible.

"What's wrong?" Carey kneeled down and stroked Zack's back.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Zack went straight to his room.

"(Well, it's definitely not a sickness. Something's wrong.)" Carey felt that she should just let it go for now. It wasn't her thing to pry into her kids' business unless it was serious.

Inside Zack and Cody's room, "(I'm such an idiot! That look on Cody's face, he hates me! I hope he returns.)" Zack just laid on his bed as he awaited Cody's return. He slowly drifted to sleep while waiting.

Meanwhile, a few hours had passed and Cody had made several stops. He continued to cry while thinking "(That stupid Zack! I HATE HIM! Of all the things to do! Now no one in school will take me seriously ever again!)" Cody then got up and finally got the sense to go back to the Tipton. He wasn't far from the Tipton, he continued running towards it senselessly until suddenly…

Six hours pass, school should be over. Carey patiently awaited the return of her second born twin. After a while, Cody didn't return at all.

"(Where's Cody? He should be home by now.)" After about half an hour, it finally hit Carey why Cody wasn't returning. She went into Zack's room and found him sulking.

"Zack," he looks up at her. "Where's Cody? What did you do?" Zack looked at her, not knowing what to say. He couldn't very well tell her that he embarrassed Cody right in front of the entire school, plus many of the teachers. He knew that he'd be grounded until Congress passed a bill saying that Carey is to unground her son. On the other hand, he was immensely worried about Cody.

"Mom, I kind of…" just as he was about to tell her, the phone rang. Carey left shortly to answer it. "(What am I going to say?)" Then, Carey came right back into the room to get Zack.

"ZACK! It's Mr. Mosby. He's saying that there's something we should see at the lobby, and it doesn't sound good!" Zack almost knew what.

"(Oh no!)" They both quickly made their way into the lobby. Downstairs, Mr. Mosby was facing outside when a grief stricken face. Maddie, London, and Estabon had already made their way outside. Carey and Zack quickly went outside to see what all the commotion was about. Before they made their way through Maddie stopped them for a moment. She was crying hysterically.

"Mrs. Martin, I'm so sorry. I saw him running and I couldn't stop him!" Carey was getting very concerned.

"What? What are you talking about?" She moved Maddie out of the way and saw Zack already standing over the lifeless Cody.

"NO! CODY! Speak to me!" Zack was in tears, lightly shaking Cody. He knew it was all his fault. Carey approached the twins. Her legs gave out and she was in tears the next second.

"My boy. What happened? How could this have happened?" Carey was confused. She didn't know what to say or do. Her younger twin son was lying on the ground dead. She picked him up to hug him.

Maddie finally got herself together and spoke up. "I was outside taking a break, and then I saw Cody running down the street. He was crying and not paying attention to anything, when a car came and ran him over."

"Why? What could have possessed him to do such a thing?" Carey was still rocking her dead son in her arms.

Zack sat right beside his mom. He was crying the most. "(This is all my fault! If I hadn't shown that stupid tape, Cody would still be here, with us, still alive!)" He leaned over and hugged his mom along with Cody.

He wanted to say something, but his guilty conscience was holding him back. "(If I tell them, everyone will hate me forever.)"

Carey still continued to cuddle her youngest while tears streamed down her face. "My poor baby. Why? Why did you have to leave?" The paramedics were already there, but waited. They were grief stricken by the situation and allowed Carey and Zack to have a few moments before taking him away.

"Miss, we're terribly sorry for your loss, but we have to take him. We can't have him stay here on the street any longer." Carey and Zack released Cody and allowed the paramedics to put Cody into the ambulance and go to the hospital.

Maddie was calm, but still crying. "Zack, Mrs. Martin, you should go back to your room. I know this is more than anything you two could handle." Carey got up, but Zack was really weak and couldn't bring himself to stand up. Estabon scooped Zack into his arms and carried him to their room.

Inside, Maddie had made Carey some tea while Estabon brought Zack to his room. "I know how you feel. I've lost love ones too back in my home country. It took me years to get over it." Estabon told Zack as he set him down on his bed.

"Thank you Estabon. Can you please leave? I'd like to be alone for a while (or forever)." Zack quietly asked him.

"I understand. I'll go help you with your mother." Estabon leaves and offers support to Carey.

Zack lies down and curls up in his bed. "(I'M STUPID, I'M STUPID! By trying to get Cody back, in return I lost my only brother! I HATE MYSELF! WHY DID I HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS? I don't care if everyone hates me, I just wish that Cody was back!)" He cries very hard into his pillow.

Back in the living room, "I'm going to go check up on Zack." Maddie says.

"Don't." Estabon stops her. "He said that he wants to be alone. We should give him time before you try to talk to him." He explains.

"I see. It must be horrible for him. Now he's an only child, he has no more twin. I bet that's worse then actually losing a sibling." Maddie sits down and continues to console Carey.

Back in the room, Zack, due to all the crying, tires himself to sleep. "(Nothing matters anymore. Girls, money, school, friends, all of it means nothing if I can't share it with Cody.)" He finally falls asleep. He then begins dreaming.

In his dreams he looks around and finds a familiar face, one that looks like him.

There you have it! My first chapter. Tell me what you think and be honest. This is just a test to see how this idea would work out. If you think the idea sucks, then tell me. Oh, and this is not one of those depressing fics. I'm not big on those. Review! 


	2. Strength of a Brother

Hey I'm back! I didn't think I was going to get this good of a reaction! Well, maybe okay I did, but why not? This is the kind of reaction I've been getting from the rest of my fics. Thanks everyone who reviewed! All I could do was smile afterwards. This chapter, I'm taking something that was used in "Phil of the Future". You'll know when it happens. I'm sorry for using it but I couldn't think of any other way of pulling this part off. Now on with the fic!

Chapter 2 – The Strength of a Brother 

Zack knew who he was looking at. It was Cody. "Cody? Is that you?" He questioned the apparition of his dreams.

"Hey Zack, how're you doing?" Cody asked him casually, as if nothing happened.

Zack's face immediately lit up. "Oh CODY! I'm so glad to see you!" He jumps up and gives Cody a hug. However, he goes right through Cody and falls down.

"I'm sorry Zack, but I'm not actually here." Cody told him after turning around.

Zack was getting really confused. "But, but, you're standing right there!" He then noticed Cody beginning to fade a little.

"I know, but I just had to see you one last time before I…" Cody finally disappeared.

Zack instantly got up. "Before you what? Cody! CODY!" Zack then woke up in the middle of the night with his eyes wide open. "Wha.. what happened?" He then remembered the dream. "Co.. Cody?" He looked over and saw the empty bed. Unable to sleep, he lay there for the rest of the night crying at the loss of his brother. What he didn't notice was a little sparkle in the night sky.

The next day, "Zack? Are you awake?" Carey came inside.

"For about six hours." Zack responded, eyes bloodshot.

"What happened?" Carey asked. Zack was thrown off by her question.

"Isn't it obvious? I miss my little brother!" Zack nearly yelled, wiping his eyes.

"Little brother? Zack you don't have a little brother." Carey tells him. Zack's head snapped directly towards where Cody's bed should be. There, he saw an empty bed and all of Cody's stuff gone.

"What? Where? Where's Cody's things? What did you do to them!" Zack was now yelling.

Carey looked at him with a very confused look. "What are you talking about? Who's Cody? Last I checked you were an only child." She got up and gave him a kiss. "Now get ready for school, you're weirding me out right now." Zack thought he was confused, now he was out of his mind.

"(This can't be happening! What happened to all of Cody's stuff? Why does Mom keep on saying that I don't have a brother?)" He finally got the sense to check all pictures he had of him and Cody.

When he gathered them, every single picture was just of him either with mom or dad, but no Cody. "What? How is this possible?" He felt like he was losing his mind. He wasn't so sure exactly what happened, but he wasn't going to stop believing that he had a little brother. He then started getting his stuff together. He noticed that he stinks, "(I better take a shower. Cody wouldn't want this room messy. It's one way I could do to make sure I remember him.)" He fixed up his stuff then went to take a shower.

When Carey saw him coming out of the bathroom with just a shower robe on, she was shocked. "Zack? Did you just take a shower?"

"Yeah, why?" He was curious what she'd say.

"Oh, I was just surprised because you rarely take showers." She resumed cooking breakfast.

"(Well, at least I'm the same person to her.)" Zack got his stuff ready and ate breakfast. If his own mother believed that Cody never existed, Zack wanted to see what his friends thought. After finishing breakfast and telling Carey bye, he went downstairs to talk to Mosby for a bit. "Hey Mr. Mosby!"

"Yes? What is it?" He asked with a slight frown.

"How would you feel if I had a twin brother?" Zack cleverly asked.

"Well, for one, I'd probably be in a mental institution." Mosby responded.

"(Well, another who believes that I never had a twin.)" He then went on his way to school. Over there, everyone greeted him normally, Max even chatted with him a bit. No one seemed as if Cody had just died and that Zack was taking it very hard. "(It's like Cody's existence was wiped out of the planet!)" But no matter how much it seemed like Zack didn't have a little brother, he refused to believe otherwise. "(I have a brother, and his name is Cody Martin. Nothing is going to make me forget him.)"

In class, the teacher got up to make an announcement. "Class, I have an announcement to make." Everyone's heads looked up at her. "We have a new student today." Zack wondered greatly who it could be.

"(What? I don't what some loser filling up Cody's seat!)" When the kid came in, Zack's eyes widened completely in shock.

"Please welcome our new student, Randy Davis."

Zack stared at the boy momentarily and the first name that came to his mind, "Cody," he whispered softly.

The teacher then directed Randy to sit in the seat if beside Zack. All of Zack's emotions started piling up on him as he saw his little twin brother coming to sit beside him. The moment Randy sat down, the room froze and Zack was already tearing up.

"What? What now?" Zack turned behind him and saw Carey. "Mom? What are you doing here?"

"I'm not your mom Zack. I'm just an image of whom you are most emotionally attached to. You could call me….. your guardian angel." She said.

"But, how is this all happening?" This was by far the weirdest thing Zack had ever experienced.

"I did it. I froze time so I could speak with you." She started.

Zack was keeping his cool. He knew freaking out would not be wise. "Okay, if you're my guardian angel, how come no one remembers Cody?"

"I felt that it would lessen the pain if everyone forgot about Cody. You apparently did not forget. I saw how you reacted last night and I thought it was only fair to test your love." She replied.

"What do you mean?"

"If you cared about Cody enough, you wouldn't never forgotten about him or pushed your memory of him aside. And what better way to test that by making everyone else forget and wiping out all traces of him." She continued.

"But what's this?" He pointed at Randy.

"Well, that's the next part. When I saw how well you persisted and refused to let go of Cody, I decided to give you another chance at living life with your brother."

"You mean I can get Cody back?" Zack was getting excited.

She then gives him the face as if it's not what he hoped. "Not yet. I can't forget that it was you that caused his death. For now you must live with the fact that Cody is now named Randy and has no memory of you or anyone else. You are just another student to him."

"But won't people notice that we're twins?" Zack then wondered.

"No. In fact, you're the only one to see Cody as your twin. Everyone else will see another face."

"So how will I get Cody back?" Zack asked.

"I won't tell you now. I don't feel that you deserve it yet. You must prove yourself to me first. For now, the most you could do is befriend Randy. But," she then drops a bomb on Zack, "to further test your love, you must never call him Cody or tell anyone especially Randy that you have a little twin brother. The moment you break these two rules, you'll lose all memory of Cody and you'll see Randy as everyone else does."

Before finishing, Zack needed to ask one more question, "So what happens if I succeed?"

"If you succeed, Randy will become Cody again and everyone's memory and all traces of Cody will be restored. You will be the only one who'll remember Cody ever dying. With that much said, good bye Zack until you prove yourself to me is when we'll meet again." She disappeared and everything went back to normal.

Randy sat down and Zack immediately greeted him. "Welcome," he stuttered a bit, trying very hard not to say Cody, "Randy. Hope you enjoy here. My name's Zack Martin."

"Please to meet you." Randy smiled at him. Seeing him smile reminded Zack that he had nearly forgotten what Cody's smile looked like. Right then he knew this was going to be the hardest thing he will ever have to go. It was already hard on Zack having someone he cares about hate him, but having his own brother not even knowing him was taking its toll on Zack.

Randy looked at Zack and noticed, "Zack? Are you crying?" Zack snapped out of his trance and thought of an excuse.

"No, my eyes are just watery. That happens whenever I yawn." He then does a good fake yawn.

When lunch started, Zack continued to stick with Randy. "(I need to get used to the fact that he's not my twin brother, for now at least.) So Randy, where do you live?" Zack started a conversation to see if there's anything different about him.

"We haven't found a house yet, so right now we're staying at the Saint Mark's Hotel." Randy replies.

"(Perfect!) Really? I'm staying at the Tipton. If you ever want to go there and hang out you could." Zack offered.

"Really? That'd be great! The Saint Mark seems more like a rich people hotel. What's the Tipton like?" Randy then asked.

"It's more of a family hotel, but it is really fancy."

"Okay, I'll ask my parents after school and see." The bell rang signaling everyone to go back to class.

"(This is a good start. I hope all I have to do is to just be close friends with Randy and I'll get Cody back. I need to hurry, the longer I get treated like this from Cody the more I get hurt.)" Zack told himself before reentering class.

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AB-angel: My second chapter! Finished because of the lovely reviews I received.

Dylan: You should thank me, since most of those reviews were about me.

Cole: I'm the one they were sad for!

AB-angel: Calm down both of you. We all share the same amount of credit.

Brenda, Kim, and Ashley: What about us?

AB-angel: Kim's important too I guess, but Ashley and Brenda are merely extras.

Brenda and Ashley: Hmph!

AB-angel: So there you have it! I tried finishing this chapter within the day I checked my reviews. Please tell me what you think of the story now! If you have any complaints you are encouraged to tell me, so I can improve on it. Thanks for reading and please reviews!

Here's a sneak peek at **Chapter 3 – The Real Test**

"I'm not telling you everything Zack. I do stay at the Saint Mark, but only because my father's some kind of slave there. I was transferred to your school when I got a scholarship to go there because of my intelligence. Even though I'd want a nice life and a house to stay in, the thing that I'm wishing for the most," he paused then looked at Zack, "is a brother."


	3. The Real Test

Wazzup! I was shocked when I saw the amount of hits this story got. It was more than twice my most popular one! As for reviews, already in less than a day I got several reviews! Thanks everyone! You're making it possible for me to finally finish another fic. Also, I know I've been switching tenses a lot but it's because I'm used to writing in present tense, but I know I'm supposed to be writing in past tense, but I don't care, I'm sticking with present tense. Anyways, I'm finished with my AP exams so I could update even faster! Here's chapter 3! Wait! One more thing, change of plans, scratch out the sneak peek because I have different plans with Randy. I might use some of it later on but not in this chapter. You'll see why.

**Chapter 3 – The Real Test**

Since Zack was the first friend Randy had made that day, he decides to spend the rest of the day with him, with parent permission of course. When Randy returns to the Saint Mark, he approaches his dad.

"Oh, hey son! How was your first day of school?" He asks Randy.

"It was great! I made a new friend right away." Randy answers. "Is it okay if I hang out with him for the rest of the day?" He then asks.

"Well I don't know. Would I have to drop you off?"

"No, he says he lives at the Tipton." Randy tells him.

"Oh, in that case go right on ahead." Giving him permission.

"Thanks!" Randy jumps up and gives him a hug.

"Oh, and try and see if you could eat dinner there. You know me and cooking." The dad then tells him before leaving.

"Of course Dad. It'd be nice to eat a home cooked meal once in a while. Bye Dad!" Randy runs off to the Tipton to meet with Zack.

Meanwhile….

"Mom, guess what? There was this new student today! His name is Randy Davis and he wants to hang out with me over here at the Tipton. Is that okay?" Zack asks Carey.

"Of course! How long?" She responds.

"Probably until night. He's staying at the Saint Mark hotel. He says he's bored there." Zack explains.

"So will he be eating dinner here?" She continues.

"I guess." Zack says.

"Well, have fun honey." She gives him a kiss and lets him go on his way.

Zack quickly makes his way downstairs to meet with Randy. He finds Randy waiting in the lobby talking with Maddie. "Hey Randy!" Randy and Maddie both look up towards Zack at the same time.

"Hey Zack! I was just meeting Maddie." He goes to her. "See you later Maddie!"

"Bye Randy. Have fun with Zack." Maddie resumes her job.

"So Zack, what's there to do here?" Randy asks Zack.

"Well, there's an arcade. That's always fun. If you don't want to do that, we can always do other fun things that I used always do with…" he quickly stops himself.

"With who?" Randy asks.

"No one special, just an old friend. (Whew! Almost said Cody. I gotta be more careful next time.) So, what will it be?" Zack responds.

"I guess the arcade first, but I don't have that much money with me." Randy tells him.

"Where's the rest of your money?" Zack wonders.

"I'm saving in back in a safe place." Randy answers.

"Are you investing it? (Cody always did that with his money.)"

"Investing? I never thought about it. I don't know, it's kind of risky." He responds.

"(Wow, he's not as smart as he was when he was Cody.) Yeah, I guess you should wait until you're older to do that. But it's okay, we don't have to spend all our money on us." They both make their way to the arcade.

Randy plays longer than Zack and he finds this not like him. "(Cody never played games this long. It's almost like he's a different person. If this keeps up, I don't know how long I could keep thinking that he's really Cody.)" Randy then notices that Zack has stopped playing.

"Oh, you're done. Okay I might as well stop too. So what do you want to do next?" He then asks.

"Well, what my friend and I used to always to is play pranks on people, especially the hotel manager, Mr. Moseby." Zack explains.

"Really? Cool! What kind of pranks?" Randy nearly jumps with excitement.

Zack was getting worried. "(He's happy about pulling pranks! What am I going to do?) Uh, let's see.." Zack didn't want to say anything that sounded so bad. "I don't really remember exactly what I did with my friend, but I do remember putting a hidden speaker on one of the bell boys and having it make farting noises." Zack tells him.

"Really? That sounds hilarious! What else?" Randy beams with interest.

Zack is becoming even more reluctant to tell him more. "I think I remember this one girl had a crush on me, so I staged a fight between me and my friend to act get rid of her."

"Ooo, that sounds devious. I wish I could've seen that." Zack was about to burst when Randy suddenly froze.

"Again? What now?"

"You should be thankful. I saved you from ruining everything." Zack's guardian angel reveals herself. Zack was about to say something but she stops him. "I know, Randy's nothing like he was when he was Cody. I saw that you were doing really well in keeping your knowledge of Cody to yourself, so I decided to give you the rest of your test to have Cody returned to you." She explains.

"Really? Thanks! I don't know how much more of this I could take! So what do I have to do?" Zack asks.

"Most of the reason why Randy's like this is part of the test. The real Cody is still in there. Randy's still smart and sweet, but he's not clever and sensitive like Cody. You're true test is to…." Zack's heartbeat was racing. He was growing more intense as she continues to tell him. "bring out Cody." She finishes.

Zack didn't know what she meant. "What do you mean? How do I do that?" He wonders.

"It means that you have to bring out the Cody in Randy. If you restore Cody's personality in Randy, he will become Cody again. This also includes Cody's feeling towards you. You could succeed in making Randy Cody, but if he doesn't have the same feelings that Cody has for you, you will fail. Plus the rules of talking about Cody still apply." This hit Zack. He was unsure of how he was going to pull this off.

"If he doesn't love me like a brother, I fail? Does that mean I have some kind of time limit?" Zack then asks.

"Yes, you will soon find out what that time limit is. One more thing," Zack looks up to her again, "you must never lie to Randy. He must trust you, and frankly, lying's pretty much cheating. I must take my leave and let you begin your test. Good luck Zack, I believe in you." She then disappears and everything turns back to normal.

"So Zack, how about those pranks?" Randy asks.

Zack knows what he has to do, even if it means changing everything about himself. "Nah, I can't, I wouldn't want to get in trouble with my mom and the hotel. We only live here because my mom performs. If I cause too much trouble they might fire my mom." Randy disappointment was showing, but Zack knows that he needs to bring out the Cody in him.

"That's okay, wasn't there anything else we could do?" Randy then asks.

"We could always try to find some girls to go out with." Zack suggests.

"Girls? I'm not much of a player. In fact, I've never had a girlfriend or been on a date, and I don't want to start now." Randy explains.

"(What? Never had a girlfriend? Cody was better than this. But I don't think I should drag him into this yet, I have to earn his trust first.) Okay, I could let you ride my bike while I skateboard around the park." He suggests next.

"Ride a bike?" Zack notices that Randy's unsure of this idea.

"What's wrong?" Zack asks him. "Let me guess, you don't like riding bikes?"

"It's not that, it's that I don't know how to ride a bike." Zack was running out of ideas.

"(He's the freaking opposite of Cody!)" There was only one thing left that he knew Cody loved. "How about homework?" Zack couldn't believe he was suggesting this, but what else was there?

"Homework? Pff! I may be smart, but homework bores me to death!" Zack nearly suffers from a state of shock. He thought it was bad before, but this is a complete disaster.

"(This is the hardest test I'm ever going to have to take in my life.)" Zack wanted to cry because he felt that he had already failed. He had no idea what to do with Randy. It was going to take everything Zack had to pull this off. "(I won't give up, I need Cody back, no matter what!)"

* * *

AB-angel: Another chapter! Sorry for the misleading sneak peek, but I felt that that part wouldn't have fit in this chapter. Please review and tell me if there's anything you think is wrong.

Here's a sneak peek at **Chapter 4 – A Friend Like No Other**

"Randy, you can't be doing this?" Zack tells him.

"Come on Zack, you said that you always pull pranks on the staff at the Tipton." Randy says as he formulates his prank at the Saint Mark.

"I know, but I also know that it's not right. Wouldn't you feel bad or guilty if one of your pranks went too far?" Zack asks him, trying to hit his conscience.

"Well, I guess I could…" Zack thinks that he finally got to him. "tone it down a bit!" Randy finishes as he makes some slight changes. If Zack didn't want Cody back as bad as he wanted, he would've given up a long time ago.


	4. A Friend Like No Other

I'M BACK! I know that most of you were aware on why I wasn't updating, for the rest, my computer in which I write my stories broke. It was only last week that I got a new computer and yesterday when my friend was able to retrieve the files on my old computer's hard drive. Thank you all so much for all the reviews! I knew I had to continue with this fic. Here it is!

**Chapter 4 – A Friend Like No Other**

The next day, Zack met Randy at school first thing.

"Zack, I'm so excited! I can't wait to see what things we could pull at the Saint Mark Hotel."

Zack is hesitant in replying. "Yeah, sure, can't wait. (Need to make him believe that pulling pranks is wrong and that we shouldn't be doing it.)" Zack couldn't believe what he had just said in his head, but he knew that getting Cody back would mean stopping everything he loves doing.

"Zack," Randy calls out, bringing Zack out of his thoughts, "what do you think we should do first?"

Zack is apprehensive in answering, "I've never actually been to the Saint Mark, so I wouldn't know what kind of stuff to pull there." He answers while trying sound like he's for it, when in truth he's against it.

"I guess we could figure it out when we get there. I can't wait!" They resume school, Randy eagerly waiting, while Zack was trying to figure out how to stop Randy.

"(How do I convince Randy that pulling pranks and all that other stuff is bad? Cody was so good at this, but I'm not like him. He was always far more clever than I am.)" Zack was at a loss.

Several hours later, Zack came to a conclusion; he was going to see what Randy's capable of. Not too long after, school ended and Zack and Randy go to the Tipton to prepare. Randy goes to Zack's room to find items that would be useful. He looks around and begins planning.

"What would be good? What could cause the most chaos?"

When Zack hears this he knew that he had to intervene, "Randy, you can't be doing this?" Zack tells him.

"Come on Zack, you said that you always pull pranks on the staff at the Tipton." Randy says as he formulates his prank at the Saint Mark.

"I know, but I also know that it's not right. Wouldn't you feel bad or guilty if one of your pranks went too far?" Zack asks him, trying to hit his conscience.

"Well, I guess I could…" Zack thinks that he finally got to him. "tone it down a bit!" Randy changes his plans slightly. If Zack didn't want Cody back as bad as he wanted, he would've given up a long time ago.

"NO!" Zack finally yells. This grabs Randy's attention immediately.

"What's your problem? You're the one who gave me the idea to do this?"

"I know, but I didn't think you were going to try and take it this far?" Zack was very worried.

"This far? I didn't even do anything yet!" Randy starts getting frustrated.

"I meant that I didn't think you were going to try and cause chaos." Zack restates his sentence.

"Oh I see," Randy says.

"See what?" Zack's now confused.

"You can't handle what I want to do. You're afraid of getting in trouble and all that crap." Randy tells him.

"What? Not even close!" Zack was now himself getting irritated.

"Then why are you trying to stop me?" Randy brings up.

"Because it's wrong!" Zack responds.

"But you do it!"

"Not anymore. It's not worth the trouble." Zack tells him. "(It's not worth losing a brother.)"

"So what? You think I'm just going to stop because you tell me it's wrong? I don't need you." Randy storms out of the suite and soon out of the hotel.

"No! RANDY!" Zack is unable to stop him and watches him leave. He didn't know what to say without mentioning Cody. When Randy left, Zack just couldn't take it anymore and starts crying.

Carrie then enters the room, oblivious to Zack's sorrow. "Hey Zack, what's up with Randy? Did you two fight or something?" She finally notices Zack on the floor crying. "Oh, Zack! What happened?" She picks him up and lets him rest on her shoulder.

"It's hard!" Zack yells out.

"What's hard?" Carrie wonders.

He calms himself down a bit so he could speak clearly. "How do you convince someone that something they're doing is wrong?" Zack goes back on her shoulder.

"I don't really know what exactly your talking about, but if Randy's doing something wrong and he won't listen," she moves Zack off her shoulder so she can look directly at him, "then probably the only thing you could do is to show him how wrong what he's doing is. If he suffers the consequences, then he might change his mind." Carrie explains.

"(I know too well. Wait a minute! That gives me an idea!) Wow Mom, you're really good at this stuff." Zack quickly wipes away his tears and gets up. "Thanks Mom!" He kisses her and runs to his room to grab some stuff.

"That boy. (I'm hoping that I didn't give him an idea for something bad.)" She decides that it's better leaving it as it is.

Zack makes his way to the Saint Mark hotel, receiving a "I'm keeping an eye on you" from Mrs. Schickagugamayer (whatever!). He then starts looking around the hotel searching for where Randy might be.

On the fourth floor he discovered Randy tying a very fine plastic thread across the hallway to trip and passing folk. Zack wanted to stop him, but he also didn't want Randy to see him.

As the elevator opened, a few visitors came through the hallway and oblivious to the thread, all of them tripped all over each other.

"(Thank goodness none of them were old or already injured. I have to stop him, but how?)" Zack pondered as he quietly followed Randy to his next destination.

After a few more pranks and traps, Zack couldn't take it anymore. He knew he had to do something to stop Randy before he really hurts someone.

"(I wonder what hotel security's doing? No wonder people prefer the Tipton over the Saint Mark.)" Zack then got an idea on how to stop Randy, but he knew it was extreme, something that he would never do for anyone except for his brother, mom, and maybe girlfriend.

Around the 10th floor workout room, Zack noticed Randy sabotaging some of the equipment. He saw him cleanly breaking some of the weights, detaching strings on the strength resistance machines, nothing that Zack knew wouldn't seriously hurt someone. Then, he saw Randy duck into the plants near the back of room so he could watch the misfortune he'll soon cause others.

Zack wasn't sure exactly what Randy had sabotaged, so he kept a close eye on everyone in the room. There were only a couple of people in there. He then saw a moderately big woman step onto a treadmill that Randy had messed with. Zack moved closer to make sure that the woman did not get hurt badly because behind the treadmills were the weight training machines.

As the lady started the machine everything seemed normal, until a few moments later when the treadmill starts speeding up uncontrollably. At that time, there was only another lady in the room, but she was much smaller. He knew that the lady was going to get thrown off the treadmill so he quickly ran behind the woman and got ready to shield her from the machines behind him.

A few seconds later, the lady finally gave out and got thrown off the machine. Zack prepared himself and immediately the woman hits him and his body serving as a barrier between the woman and the machines. Randy notices this and jumps out of his hiding place.

"What in blazes!" She slowly gets up and turns toward Zack. "Thank you for saving m……e? Oh my GOSH!" The lady quickly leans down to hold the limp figure. Zack was knocked out from the impact.

"HELP! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!" Randy quickly approaches Zack.

"Oh no! What have I done! Zack! Wake up!" He sits down beside Zack trying to wake him up. Finally, some nurses come barging into the room followed by the petite lady.

"What happened?" One of the nurses asked while the other quickly bends down to check on Zack. Randy remained quiet, not wanting to take the blame, even though guilt was spelt all over his face.

The lady then spoke up. "While I was on the treadmill, something went horribly wrong. The treadmill constantly kept on speeding up. When I was thrown off the machine, this young boy stood in the way between me and the machines behind us."

"I see. Sally, what's his condition?" Nurse Rachael asked her partner.

"He's knocked out. I'm not sure if he's suffering from a concussion or any broken bones." Zack then started coming to. Randy got really nervous because Zack might tell on him.

"He's awake!" The petite lady pointed out. Both of the nurses then gather around him.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so." Zack said as he tried to get up. When he used his left arm to push himself up, he let out a sudden "YEOW!"

Nurse Sally quickly takes hold of his arm. "Don't move you arm. It's broken."

"How come you didn't know that before?" Nurse Rachael asked her.

"I didn't want to move any part of his body, just in case." She then turns her attention to Zack. "We have to get you to a hospital." She then looks at everyone else. "Any of you family or friends?" Randy wanted to speak up, but he knew he had no right, after getting Zack's arm broken.

Zack then uses his right arm and points at Randy. "He's my friend, can he come?" Randy was shocked. He was completely at fault for hurting Zack and Zack still considers him a friend.

"Sure. At the hospital we have to contact your parents okay?" Zack nods to them. The nurses leave for a little bit grab a wheelchair for Zack. While they're gone, both the ladies stay near the entrance to watch Zack and Randy, but out of hearing distance. Randy then kneels down to speak with Zack.

"How come you didn't rat out on me?" He asks, completely confused.

Zack wanted to say that it was because he was his brother, but he couldn't. "I don't know. I guess it's because I don't want to see you in trouble like I always get in." He meant it, even if it wasn't Cody completely, Zack didn't want to see his brother get into the trouble that he's always getting into.

"But it's completely my fault that your arm's broken." Randy then says.

"It's okay, it'll heal. (Probably before my heart does.)" He then remembers why he did this. "This is why I didn't want you to pull any kind of prank. If I didn't block that woman who knows what might have happened. The hotel, or worse, your dad could've gotten sued." Zack explains.

"I guess. Okay, no more pranks. I'll try to spend more time doing things like homework." Just then, Zack saw a little bit of Cody return. "You're a really great friend Zack. I promise that I'll be careful, with you and with others." With that Zack smiled for the first time since this test started.

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AB-angel: There it is! After four months this is what I have. What do you think? What do you suggest? Opinions! Opinions! Thank you all for being great readers!


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